Elena is talking to one of the Kol's men near her casino's restaurant when a familiar voice rings in her ears. Slowly she turns around to confirm her suspicions, rolling her eyes playfully when she sees who it is.

"Eleeena! Long time no see..." Rebekah closes the distance, opening her arms and wrapping her in a bear hug. Elena grimaces at her tight hold. It'd be so much more comfortable if her friend didn't have a full glass of ice and something red in her right hand. Rather than have the red wine or red liquor spill on her designer dress, Elena steps back a safe distance and gives her a small smile.

Rebekah gives her the once over, perusing her carefully and...

"What's wrong?!"

"Nothing's wrong, Rebekah, I've just had a few stressful days," Elena offers, trying to change the subject.

Her friend continues to stare at her rather dubiously for several more moments before her face freezes in shock. Elena can almost see the light bulb go on in her head.

"OH!"

"What do you mean 'oh'?" She doesn't like where this is heading.

"You've got to be kidding me... You did it, you had sex?!"

Elena fights the urge to cover Rebekah's mouth with her palm. "Shhhh! Why don't you just yell it out loud so everyone in the whole casino can hear you?"

"Elena, I'm not an idiot, I have eyes don't I?"

"What's that supposed to mean? Why would you think that? I don't..."

"I just told you. Maybe you aren't now but you did. Yesterday? Today?" she's grinning like the Cheshire cat about to pounce on a hapless mouse.

"You're just as insufferable as your brothers!" Elena grimaces but doesn't deny it.

"And you know you love us," she winks and tilts her head so her mouth is closer to Elena's ear. "Don't be such a prude, it's a good thing! Sex is fun, it feels amazing, it's healthy. And it's good for headaches."

Elena grabs her arm and pulls her to a secluded table where they can have at least the illusion of privacy. After Caroline brings them lunch and another delicious alcoholic beverage, she tells Rebekah everything that happened with Detective Salvatore. Well almost everything.

"And he just left?" Rebekah asks disbelievingly. "What an ass!"

"Tell me about it," Elena utters. She doesn't want to let it show how much it bothers her but there's no doubt that her friend can easily see right through her. Rebekah's always had the uncanny ability to do just that, frustrating her on many levels.

Yesterday, after he flailed like a bird without wings, unable to form even a word, she collected her garments, what remained of her dignity and retreated to the bathroom, locking herself inside till she was sure that Damon was gone. If only she could make the whole evening disappear.

"And you didn't just slap him senseless?"

"I guess I felt too embarrassed... And besides that, he might have cuffed me, read me my rights and sent me to jail for attacking a cop?"

"But you had sex...," Rebekah can't stop grinning. "What was it like with the super hot detective?"

Despite Rebekah's best efforts Elena's not able to laugh with her. Not yet anyway. She sighs tiredly. "For the first time in my life I experienced a sense of rightness. I didn't feel afraid or shy, it felt good, incredible really. Turns out it was all a lie..."

Rebekah wants to give her friend a hug or at the very least, give that arrogant asshole of a detective a scathing piece of her mind. But she knows none of it would help at the moment. Instead, she tries to distract her with the Mikaelson family adventures. Sometimes she swears they should do reality TV. Their foibles are usually quite hilarious and Elena seems happy to let her. They finish their lunch on a better note and Rebekah hopes it wasn't all just an act. Elena walks her to the restaurant entrance, they embrace, promising to arrange another date sometime soon. At the last second Rebekah turns around once more.

"Hey, Elena, how is your headache?"

"Headache? I don't have one...," she looks a little confused by her friends question.

"Exactly." Rebekah winks and walks through the door collecting men's admiring looks all the way to her car.

Damon's spent hours and hours looking for more witnesses, people who may have knowledge, no matter how insignificant, about that long forgotten night. Five years is a long time, people forget, people move on, people keep their mouths closed. Truthfully, it's like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. As desperation began to build and burn inside of him, he even resorted to visiting some of the founding families even though he knew it would be about as effective as questioning the Mikaelsons.

After Damon reported what he knew to Chief Jordan, his boss strictly forbade him from going anywhere near that family. Aaron's testimony seemed promising but just because Jeremy didn't show up for an appointment doesn't necessarily mean that's when he disappeared, the chief said in no uncertain terms. It's not reason enough to bother the founding families. Frustrated Damon swallowed back a biting comment about Elena being the last member of her branch of the founders.

It's been three days since his encounter with her and even though he'd rather jump into an ocean full of Great White sharks, he knows it cannot be postponed any longer. Ric certainly wonders why they haven't confronted her yet. Sighing, Damon drops his face into his hands. He's still not ready to shred the last remnants of respect that perhaps still exist between them. Who is he kidding?

He must bring this damn case to a close and then start putting the pieces of his life back together. Damon got a little taste of heaven, beautiful, blissful heaven and now it feels like he's been sentenced to hell fire and damnation. He doesn't even get to complain about it because it's his own fucking fault. And he can't start to think about how must she feel...

"You've been awfully quiet lately. Still thinking about her?"

Yes.

"What are you talking about, Ric? You know as well as I do that we've been unbelievably busy not only with Jeremy's case. We have other families that are waiting for justice too. With what we know now, it feels like we did a poor job back then..."

"How so?"

"Aaron had no motive, none that he admitted to anyway, nor did he have to tell us about Jeremy's birthday and what he knew about events surrounding his disappearance. He suspected Jeremy needed to take a beat. Rather than add to the trouble he was already in with some pretty bad guys, he kept his mouth shut. At least that's what he told us. And yes, I know it's supposition too but... how many other people may know something, anything that we haven't even questioned yet?"

"Because you didn't have context to truly process the information at that time. I know you worked on his missing person's file but you weren't the lead detective. What is it about his case that makes you so on edge? A rogue like Jeremy would disappear for the sole purpose of getting away from some really bad people, sharks that he owed a lot of money to. Frankly people like him disappear every day, voluntarily. There was no reason to turn the town upside down when you had no leads to go on. Don't beat yourself over it, Damon, you couldn't have saved his life anyway."

Damon swallows the last bit of rancid coffee in his cup, crumples it and tosses it in the garbage. His eyes raise to meet Ric's, "You're right... Okay... call Luka, we're going to talk to Miss Gilbert."

"Yeah?" Ric livens up. "I'm in, this mountain of paperwork is driving me crazy. Are we going to give her a heads-up?"

Damon thinks about it for a second, then nods. He owes her that much.

"I don't care if you believe me or not, detective, she isn't here. Feel free to leave a message though?" Enzo's watching Elena gesticulating wildly that she doesn't want to talk to them. "Yeah, whatever but I cannot promise that she will be he..."

"Cut the crap St. John, you make it your business to get in touch with her. Now. You tell her that we'll be there in a half an hour," Ric tells him sweetly. "Bye for now."

Enzo would gladly tell them to go to hell but that's clearly not an option. He ends the call without acknowledging Detective Saltzman. "Bastard," he snaps. "I'm calling Elijah," he says aloud, his eyes meeting Elena's angry ones.

"Don't bother," Elena tells him. "He's in New York, defending one of his other special clients. There's nothing he can do so it's pointless to freak him out."

"Elijah freak out? Are we talking about the same person?"

"Ha, ha," she rolls her eyes, flinging a pillow at him.

"How can you be so calm? Get out of here, I told them you weren't here. If you're gone, they won't be able to do anything."

"Enzo, no matter what we do, they're not going to stop. Elijah can't be at my beckon call 24/7, none of you can. I'll talk to them. It's not a big deal."

"No big deal? Are you even listening to yourself? I'm calling Kai then."

When he reaches for her desktop phone, Elena lays her hand on his. His eyes to snap to where she's touching him before he slowly raises them to look into her eyes. She pats his hand and gives him a small smile, "You're not calling anyone. What I want you to do is sit in your office and bring us coffee when they arrive."

Enzo's not sure if he should feel hurt but decides quickly that she didn't mean it that way. She's, well hell, they all are, tired of those fucking detectives and just want Jeremy's murder to disappear. Everything is swirling together, it's like a snake pit and fangs dripping with venom. Damn them.

"Okay," he says simply and leaves the office to wait for their inevitable arrival. He'll be here if Elena needs him.

Deep in thought, Elena only looks up at the sound of the door opening. She nods subtly at Enzo, who's standing right behind him and invites them to sit.

It feels like a hundred years since he left her, naked in her office, shame billowing from every pore in his body. For a second he hesitates to cross the threshold... he's not sure he has the right to return to this place where everything between them changed forever and not for the better. The thought that he did turn his back on it, on them pierces his middle like a bayonet, leaving behind a gaping wound.

She looks calm but never looks at him. Damon needs to move anyway, as Enzo's bringing a tray with some refreshments and he's blocking the door. As if this is some social visit. Ric's already taking a seat and Luka follows, so he takes a deep breath and forces his feet to move. Is she just as tense as he is?

She looks him straight in the eyes, just like the moment when everything fell to pieces and a cold hand squeezes his heart painfully. He could describe the ache like operatic music. At times it's quiet, at others, the violins play and he feels sadness at what he did. But now it's rising to a crescendo, bursting from his chest in a vicious shot of anguish as his eyes drift to the sofa...

"Damon?"

Nodding at his partner, he hurries over to the table and sits across from him, his back facing the couch.

"May I offer you something?"

"Yes, thank you," Ric says, his voice stoic.

"Help yourselves," she offers politely, gesturing to the tray Enzo puts on the table.

Damon takes a look around and is caught off guard when he notices...

"Where is Mr. Mikaelson?"

Elena's busy pouring coffee into the cups and doesn't look up. "Elijah won't be joining us today."

Doesn't she know she really needs him here now? He should be relieved, how many times hasn't he wished to have her like this... without him? Lightning must be striking somewhere because he wants nothing more than for the lawyer to be facing him right now.

"Alright then," Ric makes himself comfortable in his chair and stirs his coffee. "We did some digging, talked to a few people, some had stories to tell. It was brought to our attention that the last time your brother was known to be alive, he was right here in this club."

Elena gives him a long look, otherwise she appears uninterested.

"Ehm, do you want to comment?"

"What exactly am I supposed to say or perhaps the better question is what you want me to say, Detective Saltzman? I have no idea what night are you're talking about? His birthday? Which one? Or is there another date you're zeroing in on now?"

"One of our witnesses stated with certainty that the last time he saw Jeremy alive was the night of his birthday. He's the second one to confirm that he was last seen alive on that night," Damon interferes, considering her carefully.

Elena turns her body towards him but doesn't bother to look into his eyes. "Well, good for you. Do you want an award for that?"

"Miss Gilbert?"

"I will tell you for the umpteenth time now, I don't remember that particular night."

"The witness told us you had words with your brother more than once that evening. He said that you weren't at all happy with him and..."

"I was never happy when he was here, I already told you that. And if someone told you I talked to him, had words as you put it, it may be true, it may not. The fact that I talked to my brother doesn't make me a murderer, nor does it make me a liar. If I've told you once, I've told you twenty times that I don't remember."

"Miss Gilbert, you'll have to cooperate," Ric takes the word again. "The witness also told us you and your brother hated each other... He said that Jeremy was disappointed, angry really that he wasn't allowed to be involved in the family business and that you were not willing to budge even an inch."

"And there you go again... Fishing," she singsongs but Damon can see her calmness is just pretense.

Ric can clearly see that too because he barks his next question right away.

"I don't know Miss Gilbert, if you were in our place wouldn't you find it odd that you seem to have absolutely no knowledge about your brother?"

"What is it exactly that you want me to say? That I disliked him? I never said or implied otherwise. My personal feelings are my own business, I'm not sharing them with the two of you," she just glances at Luka but clearly doesn't consider him a sparing partner, at least not enough of one to include him in her rebuff. She's almost yelling now and one more time Damon wishes Elijah was here with her. She's angry, acting on emotions and it's never a good thing.

"You want to know what I think? I think you know a lot more about this murder than you're willing to admit. From my vantage point, it seems clear that you have no interest in his killer or killers being caught. Maybe the reason for that is because I'm staring at her right now...," Ric adds for impact. He pauses for a moment to let his words sink in. "And we'll prove it."

Ric's bluffing, Damon knows but will he get under her skin?

She freezes for a moment but as soon as she realizes how much she let them get a rise out of her, she relaxes her posture and leans against the back of the chair. "It doesn't matter to me what you think, you can't prove anything. And even if you are able to prove that I talked to him on his birthday, which may or may not be true, or that our relationship was like a cobra and a mongoose, it still doesn't mean that I planned, paid for, or committed his murder myself."

"I wish you would think about it long and hard, Miss Gilbert. Perhaps you'll come to your senses and give us some useful information because as much as you ridicule this investigation, we can equally make your life... difficult."

"Now you're threatening me?" Elena doesn't budge. "I think Elijah won't be happy when I give him the details of this conversation."

Ric presses his lips together and gets up, Luka following his example. Damon stands up more slowly but it's clear Miss Gilbert once again has the upper hand.

"This is not over, Miss Gilbert," Ric delivers darkly and leaves the room.

Damon hesitantly follows but when he catches Enzo's angry expression he turns back to Elena's office and closes the door. Elena's leaning her elbows against her desk, her hands covering her face. When she hears the click she looks up and pauses in surprise. What the hell does he want now?

Damon closes the distance between them and stops himself when they're only inches apart. He knows what he wants to say, to do but he also knows he shouldn't. But he can't not try.

"Elena, I'm so sorry I was a first class asshole. But everything is so complicated..."

Elena lets out a snort. "Wow, you're something else. You're not going to give up, are you?" She breathes heavily, a tidal wave of anger, frustration and adrenaline are rising in the pit of her stomach and she knows she won't be able to stop it this time.

"Okay, Detective Salvatore, you want to know how I felt about him? Then I'll tell you loud and clear so there's no mistake, I hated my brother, I hated him! And yes, I wanted him dead!"

Unable to say anything, he beats a hasty retreat when a very angry Enzo rushes into Elena's office to give him the boot. Rather than get into fisticuffs with him, Damon knows backing off is his best option, for now anyway. The last thing he wants to do is lock up the only support person she has at the moment.

Ric gives him a grin and slap on the shoulder when he joins them outside. "That went well, huh?"

Damon can't bear to muster up even a nod. He's never hated his job more.

Huge thanks to all of you. It's hard to find the words to express our gratitude.

Eva, you're brilliant, I love and thank you for all you do for our stories, you always go the extra mile.

Chapter title: 'Angry Again' by Megadeth.

Many dear friends have DE stories completed or in progress. They're all very talented writers. My dear friend Florencia7 has many amazing DE stories. Justinia Korax: The Things She Felt When He Was Gone' is outstanding. Tamilnadu09: 'Once Upon a Nightmare' is spellbinding.

Salvatoreboys4ever is working on the sequel to COHB. Mariah April May: The Devil's Obsession, Marry Me Instead and her new one: Forget Me Not.

VitsAsh: Stumbling Upon. Starlight So: All Through the Night and Northern Star. Amazing Aisha: Marriage Built on Lies and Changing Fate. These wonderful ladies and many others are keeping the dream, the legend of Damon and Elena alive and prospering.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful day. Thank you all again, we'll see you next time..